Snifter

We know that memory is often powerfully associated with smell, though we don't seem to know why. My theory is that it is a survival instinct. If we associate the smell of a predator with the death of a friend, that smell will always heighten our situational awareness. 

 Likewise, if we associate the smell of a certain food with violent illness, then we will automatically avoid that food. 

 This could be a naturally wired response, or it could be the result of generations of naturally selective breeding, who knows.

But the curious thing is that this adaptation also lends itself to non-threatening situations.

This morning I found myself behind a logging truck loaded with pine. I knew this a full mile before I caught up with him.

I was thinking of my early childhood,
pitch and dust and grease and diesel,
livestock and hot tar and the slow sizzle of cooking grass,
summertime.